Authority Philosophy
This book is being written one chapter at a time and then published to our blog, just as we do for our clients in the Authority Chapter Plan. To read the rest of the Authority Philosophy book, please click here.
Is your law firm really just a business? Something so sterile, and common?
Businesses are like people: they must have a personality, an identity, and specific values. In other words, a philosophy. And once you identify that philosophy, it must infuse everything your law firm does. It must permeate the culture of your law firm, from management on down.
This is about building something larger than yourself. And getting others to buy in to such an undertaking. The building of an Authority Philosophy is not so different from how Medieval cathedrals were built, with builders working on structures they would rarely ever see completed. They were completed based on a vision sustained by workers across decades, even centuries and built for a shared purpose. Each craftsman understood their role in the larger design.
The point is, culture isn’t built overnight. It’s constructed stone by stone. Every hire, every client interaction, and every law firm decision either builds or erodes your authority philosophy.
Your Authority Philosophy must serve as the architectural blueprint for your law firm. It can take something mundane like a business and turn it into something that inspires transcendence. You need that to sustain, and your clients do to believe. Let it intimidate your adversary’s, earn the respect of judges, and sustain your practice for decades, maybe even centuries.
Why not?
Firms with cathedral type Authority Philosophy’s attract the right clients and the right employees, and repel the wrong ones. The best people want to be a part of something larger than themselves. Offer that to them.
Why Most Law Firms Have No Real Culture
Bill as much as you can is not a culture. Or maybe it is, but it’s not a real one. It’s a recipe for burn out, for dissatisfaction from staff and clients alike, and for a dingy fog that spreads into management itself. I’m not saying make less money. In fact, an Authority Philosophy will almost assuredly increase rather than decrease revenue. It’s just a matter of perspective. Would you rather be skiing in New Jersey or Colorado? Both may involve skis on your feet, but the aspirations and experience will be quite different, I assure you.
Most law firms hire based upon credentials alone, rather than values alignment. Then they look up one day surprised that their firm is operating not as one unit but seven separate practice areas, or even worse thirty-two solo attorneys housed under one roof.
Next come management committee meetings that resemble war planning. Civil war, namely.
Thus is the path for those who lack a distinct Authority Philosophy, or who have one but allowed it to be eroded by a lack of culture.
Leadership by committee often leads to lowest-common denominator decisions.
The Authority Philosophy Blueprint
By this point in the book, you should have a good idea of what your core beliefs are about the law’s purpose and your role in serving it. This must include a definition of success that extends beyond mere billable hours and revenue. It should include not only your personal goals, and that of your business, but how you can assist staff, clients, and the greater community. I write this as someone who failed at many of these measures when I created my law firm. As someone who felt empty, despite material success in the law.
You must have an Authority Philosophy and it must be integrated into your law firm’s daily operations. All decision making must consider your distinct Authority Philosophy. All systems must reinforce rather than undermine your values.
Hiring for Philosophical Fit
Law is an extremely credential focused field. And at some of the largest firms in Manhattan practicing “white shoe” law I would say with good reason. It’s a whole different game. But the truth is 99% of all lawyers do not work at such places. When regional firms, or boutique firms seek to emulate the AM100 they are merely losing their own identity, allowing it to be subsumed by an entity with more tradition and greater resources. A Toyota Corolla will never defeat a Tuatara at speed. It wins on dependability. Toyota Corollas are so successful because Toyota knows what they are, and what they are not. There is nothing wrong with a philosophy of reliability, or one of safety — looking at you, Volvo.
Authority-driven hiring values alignment, growth mindset, and cultural contribution over mere credentials. Credentials are still part of the consideration, but they make up maybe 50% of the equation rather than 90%. You can train up most people when it comes to technical skill, even lawyers. It’s not so easy to change people.
It might mean passing on the 3.8 GPA recent law school graduate who comes across as arrogant when you have a culture of humility and taking the 3.6 GPA grad with a great fit and personality instead.
Interview questions should be tailored not simply toward credentials, but to character and philosophy.
Your onboarding will consist not only of policies, procedures, and systems but distinct philosophy-based best practices allowing for firm mission, values, vision, and total Authority Philosophy immersion. The early assignments your new hires receive must reinforce these cultural expectations.
A clear Authority Philosophy attracts high-quality candidates, who self-select into your culture. The wrong candidates, likewise, are naturally repelled. The wrong hires can damage culture faster than anything else than management neglecting to forge culture in the first place.
Daily Decisions, Lasting Culture
The tone starts at the top, of course. What’s tricky about law firms is that lawyers tend to be cynical. This is why hiring the right staff in the first place is so important. Nonetheless, a management culture that transparently communicates an Authority Philosophy is necessary. What type of firm do you want to be? Once you have the answer to that question, you can implement it in every decision you make, every communication to staff, and in client communications as well.
If you’re the law firm that gives back to the community, then you should create policy’s that reward staff for volunteering at non-profits, donating their time, and performing pro bono work. You may want to count these as “billable hours” for bonuses. You might want to create an internal award given each year to the attorney or staff member who best exemplifies public service. You will ask those you interview for jobs about how they give back to the community already. You will donate money to local causes. And your AIO will improve from real-world validation and mentions as you and your staff are out there all the time, giving back.
You can get rich by giving faster than by being greedy in many instances. So this is not all rainbows and puppies. But make sure you don’t create such a culture for cynical reasons.
Client Experience as Cultural Expression
Your Authority Philosophy will seep into client interactions. Better yet, embrace your Authority Philosophy and ensure that it does.
It is up to you and your marketing to educate prospective clients about your Authority Philosophy. To be successful, you must attract aligned clients and repel misaligned ones. The perfect client for one of your competitors may be a horrible fit for your law firm, and vice versa. There are certain clients who are just objectively great and may fit well with most law firms, but the average client is looking for something specific and will not be satisfied unless they receive it. An Authority Philosophy that is hidden internally, and not shared with prospective clients via marketing and during initial consults is a sludge tax on your business, and something that risks eroding your distinct Authority Philosophy.
You not only should decline cases that don’t align with your firm’s Authority Philosophy, you must. The misaligned clients will only cause problems, and even if they refer you work it will only be to other misaligned clients. In this way, you will eventually lose your Authority Philosophy entirely. No short term revenue bump is worth it.
In the age of AI, only the top authorities will succeed, and they will do so beyond their current wildest dreams. You must seek out premium positioning through selectivity. This is no time to muddle through, not when AI democratizes knowledge to an extent even the internet has not been able to. Not when people have machines in their pockets that can spit out contracts at any given moment.
Though Leadership and Authority Philosophy
If you really want to let humans and AI know where you stand, then it’s time to start creating authority assets that demonstrate your unique Authority Philosophy. Thought leadership is the one thing AI, which follows along, craves and cannot recreate. As noted in my book the AI Content Paradox, AI will devalue AI generated material and will crave new, human generated material. Books are a wonderful way to distill and share your Authority Philosophy, by the way. They have remained the core way to demonstrate thought leadership for centuries for a reason. AI loves books as both an information source and a credibility signal, by the way.
If you run your own law firm, or manage one, then it’s time to become its Chief Visionary Officer, or “CVO.” Here you will implement your firm’s Authority Philosophy and help create a culture that values what you value.
I recommend that you prioritize long-term rather than short-term decision making, that you create growth paths for values-aligned staff members, and that you focus on succession planning to preserve cultural integrity. Remember, you are building a cathedral, not just a business. Or should be.
The Compound Effect of Authority Philosophy Cultures
If you’re new to Authority Philosophy then expect some resistance in the beginning. This is where you must have your philosophy at hand, as known to you as your birth date. Once your staff realizes your intractability, they will either self-select in or self-select out. Perhaps you will even have to let some people go. So be it. You are doing neither them nor yourself any favors keeping the misaligned held hostage. There is a culture for everybody. Even criminals have a culture. But that doesn’t mean a misaligned culture has to be yours.
Early wins are key to demonstrate the importance of the new Authority Philosophy. When you succeed, or your staff succeeds, let everyone know about it. This will help build momentum through consistent application.
In time, if you’re doing this right, your staff will be keeping you in line when you chase a shiny thing that is not consistent with your Authority Philosophy.
In a couple of years, the positive results of your Authority Philosophy will bear fruit. You will attract the right clients and the right staff. You will start to receive market recognition for your distinctive (and consistent) approach. You will build a firm reputation that precedes individual attorneys. And you will have influenced the roader legal community creating a sustainable competitive advantage. All by just being yourself, the same advice you probably gave your kids when they were in middle school.
But you may be wondering, how exactly you will know things are working out.
Measuring What Matters
Measure Authority Philosophy success through specific metrics: Employee retention above 85% annually, with exit interview data showing cultural alignment as a retention factor. Client satisfaction scores of 8+ on 10-point scales, with 60%+ of new business coming from referrals rather than marketing. Revenue per client increasing 15-25% annually as you attract higher-value, aligned clients. Track the ratio of declined cases to accepted ones – healthy selectivity should result in declining 20-30% of potential clients for philosophical misalignment.
Consider how well the firm communicates internally and externally, and to what extent such communications are consistent with the firm’s Authority Philosophy. Look to innovation and improvement initiatives and decision-making speed and consistency. Consider industry influence, thought leadership, and professional development.
But above all, consider this question: if you were to reach out to a random employee and ask them to define your law firm’s Authority Philosophy in five minutes or less, would they be able to?
And how will you know things are not working as they should?
Authority Philosophy Timeline
How long will it take to implement your Authority Philosophy? While it’s an ongoing concern for so long as you law firm exists, the initial heavy-lifting can be accomplished in a year or less. Here is a basic timeline for most firms, though of course the size and scope of your firm and philosophy will be factors that you must consider:
Month 1-2: Define and document your Authority Philosophy. Conduct cultural audit with all staff. Month 3-4: Revise hiring processes, interview questions, and onboarding materials.
Month 5-6: Implement client selection criteria and begin declining misaligned prospects.
Month 7-12: Monthly culture check-ins, quarterly metrics review, annual comprehensive assessment.
Common Pitfalls and Solutions
We live not in a world of rose-colored glasses, of course. The law is a cynical business for most. And even the best of intentions can be stymied by gray-areas. Here are some signs that your Authority Philosophy attempts are landing flat.
- Leadership behavior that contradicts expressed beliefs
- Stated values that aren’t reflected in daily operations
- Systems that reward behavior that is counter to the expressed Authority Philosophy
- Allowing strong personalities to drive culture accidentally
- Failing to address cultural drift over time
- Reactive rather than proactive culture management
- Long-term employees who resist cultural evolution – Create a 90-day cultural alignment plan with specific behavioral expectations and weekly check-ins. Document resistance patterns and provide clear consequences. Offer voluntary separation packages if warranted for those unwilling to adapt – it’s cheaper in the long run than cultural erosion.
- Profitable clients (or worse, unprofitable ones) who damage team morale – Calculate the true cost including staff turnover, reduced productivity, and cultural damage. Most ‘profitable’ toxic clients cost more money than they generate when you factor in their impact on employee retention and firm reputation. Create objective criteria for client termination and stick to them.
- Practices that worked historically but undermine current philosophy
- Marketing messages or marketing techniques that are misaligned from current philosophy
The truth is the middle is the danger zone for those seeking to implement an Authority Philosophy. It’s kind of like any other habit that way. You start out, gung-ho about the changes you are going to implement, and if you succeed long enough they become second nature. But in the meantime, when you’re still trying to build the habit but have lost the passion, that’s when you’re at risk of backsliding.
Before I wrap up this chapter, let’s take a quick inventory together of where your firm currently stands.
Assessing Current Culture
Take inventory of what your Authority Philosophy is and where things currently stand at your firm. Look to each of your clients, staff members, systems, and values, and determine what needs to stay, what needs to be improved, and what needs to go. Create a five-year vision for firm culture and community impact and then break it down month by month.
Allocate the proper resources to change marketing, staffing, even office space if no longer aligned. Look to where there are natural gaps between your expressed Authority Philosophy and the current reality of your law firm. Perform a current culture audit on your firm and its current adherence, or lack of adherence, to Authority Philosophy principles.
Finally, create weekly and monthly meetings with your staff or decision makers to ensure compliance with your firm’s Authority Philosophy. In time, this will all become second nature. And the best time to get started is now.
Authority Philosophy Cultural Baseline Assessment
Rate your firm on each statement using a 1-5 scale (1 = Never, 5 = Always):
1. Leadership Alignment “Our firm’s partners/management consistently make decisions that reflect clearly defined values, even when those decisions cost money in the short term.” Score: ___
2. Hiring Philosophy “We pass on technically qualified candidates who don’t align with our firm’s culture and values.” Score: ___
3. Client Selectivity “We regularly decline profitable cases or clients that don’t align with our firm’s philosophy and approach.” Score: ___
4. Cultural Clarity “Any employee could accurately describe our firm’s core philosophy and values to a prospective client or new hire.” Score: ___
5. Decision Framework “When facing difficult decisions, we have a clear philosophical framework that guides our choices beyond just financial considerations.” Score: ___
6. Employee Investment “Our firm actively develops employees who demonstrate cultural alignment, even when they’re not the highest performers.” Score: ___
7. Marketing Consistency “Our marketing messages, client communications, and daily operations all reflect the same core philosophy.” Score: ___
8. Resistance Management “We address cultural misalignment among staff quickly and directly rather than hoping problems resolve themselves.” Score: ___
Scoring:
- 32-40: Strong cultural foundation – focus on refinement and consistency
- 24-31: Solid base with room for improvement – prioritize weak areas
- 16-23: Moderate culture – significant development needed
- 8-15: Weak cultural foundation – complete Authority Philosophy overhaul required
Your Total Score: ___
This assessment identifies your starting point for implementing the Authority Philosophy framework outlined in this chapter.
Conclusion
Culture starts at the top. In other words, for most readers of this book: You.
It’s not easy given your many obligations, but it’s necessary work. If you need to bring in someone like myself to help guide your firm toward it’s Authority Philosophy then that may be money well spent. But it is something you should be able to handle on your own, armed with the knowledge of this chapter and a can-do attitude.
A law firm’s philosophy is far too important a thing to leave to chance. By being proactive, today, you can help ensure your law firm’s future.